Prabowo Subianto – Indonesian Politician and Businessman

Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo is publicly known as Prabowo Subianto and is a politician, businessman and former Lieutenant General in the Army. In 2009, he ran for the vice presidency in the Indonesian election as part of Megawati Sukarnoputri’s campaign. Then in 2014, he ran for president against Joko Widodo the Jakarta Governor and was defeated.

During his military career, Subianto held many senior leadership positions, serving in the Indonesian National Army Special Force Kopassus. Starting off as the commander of a unit and working his way up to Lieutenant General before retiring.

After the military, Prabowo went to work at his brother's business. Then he purchased Kiani Kertas, which is a paper pulp and plantation in Mangkajang in East Kalimantan. Now, Prabowo’s company Nusantara Group has control over 27 companies in Indonesia and all over the world. He has many different companies, from Nusantara Energy to Jaladri Nusantara, or Tidar Kerinci Agung. Prabowo is considered to be one of the most successful businessmen in Indonesia. In 2016, Subianto was named one of the 20 most powerful and influential people in Indonesia by GlobeAsia magazine.

The masculine name Prabowo is a derivative of Prabhawa, which means “power, might, strength, and supernatural or extraordinary potency” from old Javanese. The name Prabowo is a modern version and is well known as the first name of the Suharto son-in-law and former army lieutenant general – Prabowo Subianto. The name prabhawa is derived from Sanskrit and reflects the early Hindu influence on the political culture in Indonesia.